What is a profession? with definition and meaning

We explain that what is a profession? with definition and meaning. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term “profession” refers to an occupation that involves the application of “professed” knowledge of some field, subject, or science.

Therefore, two points are essential when defining “profession.”

1. It is made up of skill or experience in a particular field, subject, or science.
2. It involves the request for those skills.

Consequently, a profession requires that an individual undergo rigorous training and acquire a formal education to be part of it.

In addition to skill and application, the term ‘profession’ has an element of declaration or vow inherent to it as ‘profession’ also signifies an announcement of one’s belief in a religious order.

Consequently, an individual as part of a profession is expected to follow some ethical standards in that field.

Origin and evolution of the term ‘Profession’.

The term ‘Profession’ has its origin in the Latin word ‘Profiteri’ (old) and ‘Professio’ (new) which means ‘to declare publicly’, mainly, something that is of great importance.

Interestingly, in those days, nothing was more important than religion, as reflected in the fact that Webster’s Third New International Dictionary first described the term “profess” as the act of taking a religious oath publicly.

Over time, as time passed, this narrow, specific, and restricted meaning of the word “Professions” expanded to incorporate a public statement of non-religious ideas as well.

Consequently, with the advent of modern times, as liberal capitalist ideas began to gain more prominence and eventually became the order of the day, the term “Profession” took on a more secular connotation.

On top of that, as specialization became one of the main components of the liberal capitalist system, the word “Profession” began to be associated with experience and skill.

This argument is further confirmed by the fact that during the 16th century, a peak time of the Renaissance period, the word “Profession” was first used to refer to occupations such as medicine, law, theology, and, often the army. These were considered as the field of scholars and elites.

Besides that, the term ‘Profession’ is a truncated version of the word ‘liberal profession’ which in turn has been anglicized from the French word ‘profession libérale’ in the 19th century.

The “professions” with its current classless (upper-middle) and predominantly economic connotation was adopted in the 20th century.

As of today, the term ‘Profession’ refers to any occupation practiced by people with relevant qualifications and skills to serve the interests of a client or the general public.

However, it is not a trade or an industry. It differs from both terms insofar as a code of ethics governs the individuals who are part of it.

Milestones that transform an occupation into a professions

While all professions can involve an “occupation,” not all occupations are professions. Instead, a ‘professions‘ is just one of the types of ‘occupation’. An ‘occupation’ to be called a ‘professions‘ has to achieve the following significant advances:

1. Become a full-time vocation.
2. The foundation of a training school.
3. The origin of a university school.
4. The constitution of a local association.
5. The founding of a national professional ethics association.
6. The institution of state licensing laws.

Examples

The following are some significant examples of a professions:

1. Scientific
2. Architecture
3. Information technology
4. Distributor
5. Medicine and many more.

Advantages of the profession

Some important advantages of a professions include:

1. It focuses on improving efficiency .
2. It is based on specialization and skill enhancement .
3. It is governed by a code of conduct and therefore holds individuals accountable.

Disadvantages of the profession

The following are some of the main disadvantages of a professions:

1. With a strict code of conduct, a ‘professions‘ sometimes invades an individual’s personal space .
2. Too much adherence to professional conduct often increases stress levels for individual members of a professions.